10 challenges facing rural communities

• Around 100 people took part in a forum for a more socially inclusive rural Ireland. They looked at the challenges and despite a tight timeframe of two hours, came up with plenty of suggestions.

Four Pillars Of Social Inclusion

Eamonn O’Reilly, CEO of North East and West Kerry Development (NEWKD) stressed the importance of looking at social inclusion under four pillars: income, contribution to society, support, and decisionmaking.

Regarding supports, Mr O’Reilly said: “The third pillar that I’d look at is support. The network of support that people feel; whether it’s their family, the community itself, people of like-mind. The issue here is the lack of resources in community development since the recession. We haven’t really got back to meeting people where they’re at, and giving them the time to talk to them and see what are their issues.”

He also highlighted a successful project that NEWKD has carried out for several years, which provides tractor-driving lessons to young people.

“We’ve been trying to bring people in, between 14 and 16 years of age, who are allowed to drive but don’t have the skills and maybe don’t have the awareness. It draws them in to activities that community groups like ourselves do. So it’s not just about the tractor-driving, it’s a bit about how can we get more young people involved in our sector. Once you have them linked in, other things will flow from that.”

No One Template

At the close of the discussion, Mr Geraghty noted: “We’re really hearing that there’s not a single template for solving the issues of urban and rural exclusion in Ireland. We’re hearing that, we’re working with you through that.”

Minister O’Brien remarked that intergenerational projects, such as the folklore project mentioned by Mr Sammon, “is something we probably could and should do more of”.